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OCCULTA ISSUE #1

Oh yes! Finally, the first issue of OCCULTA! This has been in the making for far too long now. Proud of myself for actually going through with this project. Anyways, as the portal page states, this series is for me to document and share all of the cool obscure things that I like. Have I got a show for you! Each issue will contain 4 different subjects, in any catagory. There are Games, Web, Music, Movies/Video, and Visual Art. I've got at least 2 in each catagory queued up, so I have somewhat of a diaspora. Enough preamble, on with the show!

FL-OCA.COM - WEB

FL-Oca Homepage

Ah, the beauty of the old web. I'm not exactly sure what the title of this website is, being that it is in Japanese, but Kenji Ogawa's guide to all things ocorina warms my heart. This website has guides on "haw" to play the ocarina, and how to make one out of clay. It also has a guestbook, so be sure to check it out and leave a message! (Also look for "graph100"'s message, thats me!) It's even been running since 1996 and still getting updates (I think).

I came across this site while (of course) searching for resources related to ocarina construction. While clicking on any link I could find, this site stuck out like a rose in a patch of midwest grains. I was immediatly facinated and made it my job to explore the site. Unfortunately, the website is primarily in Japanese, so for my fellow English speakers, it is mainly inaccessable. Despite that, it's still easy to get enjoyment out of this, and I need to give it a try sometime.

I'm so sorry that I'm not able to give a more detailed story about this site, I wish I could, but unfortunately most of it is locked behind a language barrier through an ancient site. However, I still encourage you to give it a look, and maybe we will make Ogawa's day a little bit brighter.

A/ALP OKYAR - MUSIC

! Contains flashing colors !

a Youtube

Talk about obscure! I think I'm one of his (as of 14/1/23) 300 subscribers on Youtube. I'll just stick wil Alp Okyar for this article, but he also goes by "a" on Youtube, but Alp Okyar on Bandcamp and Spotify. If you like weird, fast music, and borderline static visuals, you will love Alp Okyar.

Hailing from Türkiye, Alp Okyar makes music that sounds like a panic attack during a fever dream. It's incredible. It's like Aphex Twin but you accidentally pushed Stop and Play at the same time and now all of the tape is screwed up and you gotta rewind it but it still kinda plays but it's awesome like 20 years later. The sounds have kind of the same effect as the Yume Nikki ost, but with the visuals you are less "you are feeling very very sleepy" and more "it's so horrific but I can't look away", but in a cool way. I definitely would not reccomend watching this with any photosensitivity disorder, but as a wise man once said: "The [Video, in this case] is fucking, but the music is amazing!". A true display of talent and layers.

I found this gem from the wild card that is the youtube reccomendation algorithm. I remember mistaking the chaotic thumbnail for Touhou gameplay, and combined with the short title I was intrigued. Dispite not being Touhou, my beloved, I was not at all dissapointed. I've since been loving Alp Okyar's catalogue in full. Definitely give it a try, unless of course, you can't for health reasons. No shame here.

VLIF - MOVIES/VIDEO and MUSIC

! Contains bright/flashing colors !

VLIF Youtube

Vlif is something truly unique. Recreating a late 90s/early 2000's CGI aesthetic when you're tired on a sick day and can't exactly remember what you did that day. Their videos are full of distorted, lo-fi graphics, muffled audio, and an amazing feeling. The style itself is generally very generic for the time, but Vlif does it in a really unique way. They even worked on ENA. They also release music which is standard light-dnb/breakcore, but theres no shame in that. The EPs that I've listened to seem just too short, which I would say have characteristic sounds/sound effects. And they have a neocities!

I found Vlif when looking at those who had worked on ENA, and I was quickly infatuated. I would reccomend starting off by watching Miramaru's Indictment Disk, tort.3gp, SPIN_visual_demo_2021.mp4, and RITA the world ocean.

HEISEI PISTOL SHOW OR THE LARGEST ROSE-COLORED HAPPINESS-SEEING LIFE IN HEISEI HISTORY - GAME

! Lots of flashing and bright colors, mention of child abuse, sex, suicide, and drugs, with some (albiet brief) gory imagery !

English Fan Translation

As you can tell from the content warning, this one gets heavy. I'm probably not going to get into the truly hardcore stuff as they are mainly spoilers, but some content will be discussed. Heisei Pistol Show is a game where you play as former assassin, former sex worker, and "boy in lolita clothing" Heart, and you go to get revenge against your former coworkers. You explore a crazily colored world where you go around gathering info about how to kill your enemies and collect money by the 500s to buy new guns. As a child, Heart sees a concert from a princess singing (I kid you not) Twinkle, Twinkle, little star, which then becomes his favorite song. (Minor tangent, but I cannot take this game seriously at some points due to the use of a nursery rhyme. Tangent over) Heart really wants to become just like the princess but his dad doesn't like that or something and his mom leaves him. Filled with the desire of true satisfaction in life, you justify the means by the ends and kill your closest friends to end up with your former boyfriend, even if in hell. I would really like to not spoil the rest because it is just so damn fantastic, but it is really, really cool.

I found this from a video from Hazel (who will appear in a later issue) talking about Re:Kinder, as Heisei Pistol Show is another of Parun's works. I promptly found and downloaded it and tried to play, but I got stuck because it was all Japanese. I thought it was going to be very lighthearted, and boy was I wrong. In November of 2022, angles presumably sent from heaven released a translation for this game and I was finally able to play it in it's full glory. It is now my favorite game. It only takes an hour or two to complete in full and is a moving experience. It's definitly not for everyone, as it's very obtuse and requires you to theorize to find the deeper meaning within, which is literally mentioned in the post credits scene. It even has a new game plus, but I haven't completed it. The combat is more of a vehicle for the story, but it's pretty cool on its own.

I don't know what else to say other than play. this. game. If you couldn't tell by the length of this article, it is one of my favorite things right now and I love it so much. Heisei Pistol Show is simply the best and I definitely want to see what else Parun has to offer. Rest in peace.

END

And that concludes the first issue of OCCULTA. I think it went pretty well. I hope this has inspired you to check out some of the more hidden gems in life, and made you happy to read. I'm truly grateful to be able to share these things with anyone, and I am so excited for the world to see what I have in store. I don't exactly know what I want to say here, I'm so terrible at ending, but I hope you got something out of this and I strongly reccomend you to check at least 1 thing from this zine out. Bye for now!